Section 2: Psychiatric and Traumagenic Disabilities
Area 1: Psychiatric and Traumagenic Disability Experiences
Area 2: Supporting Survivors with Psychiatric & Traumagenic Disabilities
Area 3: Connecting Psychiatry and Abolition
Summary
This section explores various psychiatric disabilities and traumagenic disabilities including personality disorders, mood disorders, dissociative disorders, cPTSD/PTSD, traumatic brain injury, eating disorders, and addiction. After exposing learners to some of the experiences of people with these disabilities and the disparities in support and care they experience, there is guidance on how providers can better work with people with these kinds of disabilities. This section ends with an exploration into how psychiatry may operate from an abolitionist framework.
Area 1: Psychiatric and Traumagenic Disability Experiences
What is Mental Health?: 1,150 word essay By Project LETS. Description: Provides an introduction to what mental health is, how to identify an individual’s own state of mental health, and how to support those experiencing mental distress.
Learning about Mental Health Experiences: 300 word introduction with over 12,000 words of additional content by Project LETS. Description: Provides a more detailed look at the lived experiences of those with various kinds of psychiatric disabilities, including debunking misconceptions and providing guidance on seeking support. Experiences explored include: Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Eating Disorders, Psychosis, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Self-Harm, Emotional Abuse and Dysfunctional Families, Dermatillomania, and Drug & Alcohol Interactions.
Brain Injury and Sexual Assault by PCAR (Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect)
• Part 1: 4 PDF pages. Description: Exploring the Basics of Traumatic Brain Injuries.
• Part 2: 4 PDF pages. Description: Special Considerations & Recommendations For Advocates.
Hearing Our Voices: Peer Support and Mental Illness: 14 minute video by Stefanie Kaufman, TEDxBrownU. Description: This talk describes the founding story of Project LETS, development of the Peer Mental Health Advocate (PMHA) program model at Brown University, Stefanie’s experience with psychiatric disability and sexual assault, and integrating a social model of disability into mental health care.
Why are eating disorders so hard to treat? 5 minute video by Anees Bahji, TED-Ed. Description: Globally, about 10% of people will experience an eating disorder during their lifetime. And yet, eating disorders are profoundly misunderstood. Misconceptions about everything from symptoms to treatment make it difficult to navigate an eating disorder or support someone you love as they do so. Anees Bahji shares what is— and isn't— true about eating disorders.
How Childhood Trauma Leads to Addiction: 9 minute video by Dr. Gabor Mate. Description: Gabor Mate is a Hungarian-Canadian physician. He has a background in family practice and an interest in childhood development and trauma, and in their potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health. This video explains how developmental trauma can dysregulate the nervous system, sometimes leading to self-harming compulsions such as addiction, and how people can begin healing from trauma and addiction.
A Trauma-Informed Explanation of Addiction: 10 minute video by Dr. Gabor Mate. Content warning: Some images of addictive substances, people using substances, and severe poverty and houselessness; Note that if these images are difficult for you, you may be able to listen to the video without watching, or download the transcript to read. Description: This video follows up from the previous one to delve more deeply into what addiction means for adults and how to use trauma-informed practice to better serve people experiencing addiction.
An Intro to Structural Dissociation: 10 minute video by Osmosis (a verified digital medical education org). Description: Introduces the different forms of dissociation and some experiences of those with dissociative disorders.
Structural Dissociation Theory and the Brain: 12 minute video by Nasim Yazdani. Description: Delves more deeply into how relying on dissociation during early childhood trauma can impact neurobiological development in young people that continues to impact survivors into adulthood. This video connects the neurobiology of trauma, the vagal nerve theory of trauma, and the theory of structural dissociation.
Area 2: Supporting Survivors with Psychiatric & Traumagenic Disabilities
Common Mistakes We Make When Supporting Others & What To Do Differently: 10 page PDF by Project LETS. Description: Describes some of the common mistakes made by those trying to support people with trauma and psychiatric disabilities, such as assuming the person’s goals, “savior” mentality, pitying the person with disabilities, infantilization, or revocation of agency. It also provides concrete guidance on how to better support people with psychiatric disabilities.
Effectively Supporting Survivors with Mental Health Disabilities: 1 hour, 25 minute webinar by End Abuse of People with Disabilities. Description: Explores strategies for service providers when working with people with mental health disabilities as well as potential solutions to overcome common concerns and ensure access to a wide range of services for all survivors.
Tips for Advocates working with people with Dissociative Identity Disorder: 33 minute webinar by Olga Trujillo, Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR). Description: Explores tips for advocates for working with survivors with dissociative identity disorder.
Dissociative Identity Disorder: The Healing Process: 44 minute webinar by Olga Trujillo, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). Description: Explores a variety of modalities of healing for those with dissociative identity disorder.
Trauma, Self-Care, and Community Care Resources by Project LETS. Description: This toolkit provides a variety of resources for addressing mental distress and trauma, including emotional regulation skills, safety planning materials, distress tolerance workbooks, and much more.
Family Law Survival Kit: Tipping the Scales In Favor Of Domestic Violence Survivors Who Have Mental Health Concerns: 1 hour, 30 minute webinar by End Abuse of People with Disabilities. Description: The Domestic Violence and Mental Health Collaboration Project in King County, WA discuss the Family Law Toolkits created for domestic violence advocates, attorneys, mental health services providers, and survivors. These tool kits provide information, resources, and support for survivors, particularly those with mental health concerns, to navigate the family law system successfully.
Area 3: Connecting Psychiatry and Abolition
Abolition Must Include Psychiatry: 2,400 word essay by Stella Akua Mensah, edited by Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu, the Disability Visibility Project. Description: Provides an introduction to the utility of abolitionism in psychiatric care.
Decarcerating Care by the Institute for Development of Human Arts. Description: A resource repository including several panels/webinars and a library connecting people to other similar materials.
“Defunding the Police” and People with Mental Illness: 14 page report by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Description: This document utilizes research, data, and stories to explain the impacts of policing and incarceration on those with psychiatric disabilities. It also provides evidence-informed ideas for supporting people with psychiatric disabilities and those experiencing acute mental distress without utilizing the police.
Alternatives to Police Based on Disability Justice: 24 page zine/toolkit by The Abolitionist and Disability Justice Coalition. Description: A guide to abolitionism through the lens of disability justice. Includes sections titled: Cripping Abolition, Guiding Principles Based on Disability Justice, and Reforms to Oppose.
Psychiatry, Abolition, and New Horizons with Elliott Fukui: 2 hour webinar by The Fireweed Collective. Description: Psychiatry and psych wards are tools of the police state. Join Elliott Fukui for a webinar about disability justice and abolition. In this current political moment, we need to raise awareness about the inner workings of the mental health system so that we do not replace one oppressive system with another.
Race and Mental Health by Project LETS. Description: A resource library including materials related to mental health and various BIPOC communities.
Crisis Toolkit by the Fireweed Collective. Description: Includes sections on navigating crisis, suicides, hotlines and warmlines, psychosis/hearing voices, and psychiatric drugs.